Interview with Roger Simon on PJMedia

3 Responses to Interview with Roger Simon on PJMedia

Guys, don’t you see that this INDEED was a criminally neglegent decision by the Israeli command, as many in the Israeli press agree. This was not something out of the blue, for crying out loud. We had ample time to prepare and work out possible scenarios and come up with a solution that would not require direct contact with the people on the ships, but that would take the air out of this provocation. One such solution could be towing them to Ashdod without embarking them (I’m sure such means exist) or rendering the boats immobile by destroying the propulsion mechanism or some other navigational gear. This could have been attempted first, and if indeed, all that have failed, then the command should at least have made the basic homework of learning who we’re dealing here with (Turkish Islamists bent on violence and even martyrdom) and relegated to their field command that dispersal means, be they teargas, stink bombs or acoustic, should first be used to “soften” the crowd before attempting any operation. Looks like Israel’s extra care to not harm a fly, ended up in a complete fiasco.

Now let’s be frank. I’m 100% certain that the Army did not take the time to look into the IHH and what’s to expect of them (such as their wish to go down in a blaze of glory) which, as we all know here in the jblogoshpere, is an act of enormous negligence. Nor, it appears, did the soldiers carry strapped on cameras to document any possible imbroglio. Looks like the IDF just cant bring itself to the realization that this is long since ceased to be a conventional war, but rather a PR war for the hearts and minds of the already hostile world opinion. We should have approached this issue with the utmost care and consideration so as to minimize the propaganda campaign which was the sole reason behind this flotilla.

And please don’t get me wrong. I’m not the kind who likes to bitch and moan with the previlige of hindsight. Au contraire, I usually try putting myself in their shoes and see if indeed a better option was conceivable. However, for the life of me I can’t see how we managed to turn this into such a blunder, even by Israeli standards. I believe someone has to take responsibility for this charade.

It was a failure of intelligence to know that a large gang of Islamists was on the Mavi Marmara, although they were already filmed chanting:
Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud
Jaysh Muhammad sa ya`ud

[Remember] Khaybar O Jews,
Muhammad’s army will come back for sure.

This is an Islamist battle cry, trying to intimidate the Jews, harking back to a 7th century jihad attack on the Jewish-populated oasis of Khaybar, in which Jews were massacred and enslaved. So Israeli intelligence ought to have known that these goons were not peaceful kumbaya pacifists.

Compounding the problem was believing the promise of Huwaida Arraf of the ISM, on one of the boats, that the “peace” fascists would resist only non-violently. She was apparently right about five of the six boats but not the biggest one with 600 passengers, the Marmara. So believing a peace faker like Arraf, plus trying to please Israel own “left” pro-fascist community [especially the media fascist-lovers], led to the operational setbacks on that one ship, the Marmara.

Let’s not forget that Arraf helped get the nine goons killed on the Marmara, because Israel –without her promises of non-violent resistance– might have handled that ship differently, more successfully.

What I see above all is, that Israeli media and blogs start debating a topic that could be dealt with calmly in a few weeks while the world media is still trying to harm Israel as much as possible with the current incident.

The biggest problem is that the target of those Israelis is the IDF, the very organization that can produce more video material to help Israels image now.

What I see is the very sick self-focusedness that harms Israel since its beginning. Sometimes I believe Jews think that they live in an isolated bobble and only recognize that they are part of this word when Ahmadinejad knocks at the door.

I don’t want to offend those who just react to the themes that the media determines, but this is absolutely the wrong time.

Holocaust Guilt vs. Holocaust Shame: On the Crisis of Western Civilization This is a longer version of what appeared in the Tablet. Richard Landes, Jerusalem @richard_landes [email protected]Read More »